[Anchor]
The Ministry of National Defense and the Democratic Party have finalized a basic plan to establish a unified Armed Forces Academy in Jaundae, Daejeon, by merging the existing Army, Navy, and Air Force academies. The government plans to finalize the project around October after gathering opinions from various sectors, but the general alumni associations of the military academies are strongly opposing the move, calling it a "scheme to sever history and tradition."
Defense correspondent Kim Taehun reports.
[Reporter]
The Ministry of National Defense and the Democratic Party have presented three main justifications for the integration of the military academies.
These include improving inefficiencies where support staff outnumber cadets, adapting to the rapidly changing nature of modern warfare, and the need for independent combined command capabilities following the transition of wartime operational control.
[Ahn Gyu-baek / Minister of National Defense: It is a critical time to implement a new educational system, secure excellent faculty, and provide a state-of-the-art educational environment to train officers who can meet future security challenges.]
The core of the government and ruling party's basic plan is to abolish the individual Army, Navy, and Air Force academies and establish a new 'Armed Forces Academy' in Jaundae, Daejeon, where various military educational facilities are concentrated.
Instead of a '2+2' system, where cadets would receive integrated education in their lower years and branch-specific training in their upper years, the new system will involve four years of training and education exclusively at the Armed Forces Academy.
Cadets will focus on common liberal arts education to build capabilities for future warfare in their lower years, followed by specialized major studies within 'departments' for each military branch in their upper years.
The faculty composition, which currently consists mostly of active-duty officers with only 24% civilian professors, will also be overhauled. The plan aims to increase the proportion of civilian faculty members—who will receive compensation comparable to professors at national universities—to over 50%.
Regarding the existing academies, the Korea Military Academy in Nowon-gu, Seoul, will be used as an alternative educational facility until the Armed Forces Academy is completed. The Air Force Academy in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, and the Naval Academy in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, will be converted into facilities for specialized branch training.
The Ministry of National Defense explained that detailed plans, including the launch date of the Armed Forces Academy and the size of the cadet intake, will be finalized around October following a process of gathering opinions through public hearings and policy briefings.
In a statement released today, the general alumni associations of the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies expressed their opposition, stating, "They are closing the academies despite the fact that reforms could be achieved through facility investment and organizational restructuring," and added, "This is a scheme to sever not only the identity of the military academies but also their history and tradition."
(Video reporting: Oh Young-chun, Video editing: Lee Seung-yeol)
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